Line feeder for high-pressure oil wells



March 3, 1953 SUMMERS 2,630,180

LINE FEEDER FOR HIGH-PRESSURE OIL WELLS Filed Aug. 15. 1949 INVENTOR.44-min! 4 50mins el W6 Jimmy;

Patented Mar. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LINE FEEDER FORHIGH-PRESSURE OIL WELLS 4 Claims.

My invention relates to line operating device for attachment to thecasing head of oil wells under high pressure for the purpose of loweringinstruments suspended on the line into the oil well casing.

The invention will be hereinafter described as utilized for the purposeof lowering a casing perforating gun into a well under high pressure,but it is to be understood that this use of the fitting is given. by wayof example only.

Oil wells, by which term I intend to mean any well drilled into theground to obtain petroleum products either in liquid or gaseouscondition. are capped or closed off at the ground level, with a fittingincluding valves and packing to control the flow of gas or oil from thewell. If the well is under high pressure. the packing around any line orrods working in the casing has to be tightly packed to prevent the lossof high pressure fluid through the packing, th s setting up highfrictional forces which are often so high that the weight of acomparatively light instrument, such as a casing perforating gun, isinsuflicient to pull the l ne on which it may be suspended through thepacking.

It is an obiect of my invention to provi e a device whereby the linesuspending an instrument in an oil well under high pressure ispositively drawn through the high pressure packing.

A further obiect of my invention is to provide a device for the purposeof positively drawing a line, suspending an instrument in an oil wellunder high press re, through a high pressure packing, the device beingarranged so that the oil well pressure, although acting on the partsarranged With n the device, acts equally in all directions thereon andtherefore cannot ellect the functioning of the device.

Another obiect of my invention is to provide a device for the purposedescribed, having power operating means incorporated therewith toconstitute a self-contained unit w ich may be quickly and easilypositioned on the well casing head for a casing perforating or otheroperation, and as readily removed after completion of the operation.

Oil well equipment is subiected to hard usage and sometimes unskilledhandling and a. further object of my invention is to provide a simpleand rugged piece of equi ment which will give trouble-free service unders"ch condit ons.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a device for thepurpose described which is easy to operate yet accurate in performance.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from astudy of the following specifications, read in connection with theaccomoanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevation showing the fitting of my invention mountedon the casing cap; it will be understood that when used on an oil wellunder high pressure the cap will be furnished with a central valve sothat the gun may be lowered therethrough into the casing after thedevice has been secured in place;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in section; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail shown in cross section on the lineIII-III of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral i indicates the top of astandpipe mounted on the cap of the oil well casing on which the deviceof my invention, generally indicated at 2, is secured, as for instanceby being screwed into a threaded boss 3 of the top plate of thestandpipe.

The device of my invention comp-rises a housing formed by a vertical tublar member 4 secured to a hemispherical member 5 as by welding, and asecond tubular vertical member 6 parallel to member 4, member 6 beingalso secured, as by welding, to a hemispherical member 1 of the sameradius as member 5.

Hemispherical members 5 and l are secured together by annular marginalflanges 5a and 1a riveted or bolted together, rivets B being indicatedin the drawings. A pressure retaining gasket 9 is positioned betweenflanges 5a and 1a,.

The plane on which the sphere, comprised of hemispheres 5 and I, isdivided is vertical but inclined to the parallel planes in which thevertical tubular members 4 and 6 extend.

Hemispherical member 5 is provided with a hub Ill machined to provide aninterior bearing l I, and hemispherical member 1 is provided with a hub12 drilled to provide a bearing for a shaft 13, mounted with its innerend supported in bearing H and extending through hub l2. The shaft i3 isthus mounted with its axis accurately extending equidistant from theaxes of tubular members 4 and 6 and normal to the plane in wh ch theylie.

A pressure retaining gland i4 is provided to close the outer end ofbearing in hub l2 against loss of pressure through the bearing.

A laterally proiecting bracket I5 is welded to the spherical member andon the bracket is mounted a motor l6, which may be of any suitable type,the motor shown in Fig. 1 being of the wabble plate hydraulic type. Thepressure liquid conduit is indicated at I! and the exhaust liquid conuit is indicated at l8.

Motor 16 drives a shaft I! which is directly coupled to shaft IS in anysuitable way, as for instance by a key fitting in a keyway cut in theabutting ends of shafts l3 and i9 and retained therein by a sleeve 2!fitting closely over the shafts, The motor is of a commerciallyavailable make affording a high torque at a low number of revolutionsper minute.

A grooved pulley 22 having a hub 23 is mounted on shaft I3 by a key 24driven into a keyway cut partly in hub 23 and partly in shaft IS. Thegroove in the periphery of the pulley is arranged to lie over theopenings of the vertical tubular members 4 and 6 into the sphericalhousing 5, I, so that a fine line, such as cable 25, wound round thepulley will extend along the axes of the tubular members. One end of thecable is secured to the casing perforating gun (not shown) suspended inthe oil well casing. The cable 25 is given several turn round the pulleyand the other run of the cable is passed through a pressure retaininggland closing the lower end of tubular member 6 and comprising packing26 positioned in the counterbored end of member 6, and compressed by afollower 2T screwed onto the lower end of member 6, around the surfaceof the cable.

The cable is held for accurate axial movement through the tubular member6 and packing gland by a pulley 28 carried in a bracket 29 bolted to aplate 30 welded to the lower end of the tubular member 4.

The free end of cable 25 may be wound on any suitably located drum (notshown). The pulley 28 may be utilized to record the footage of the cablelowered into the well by choosing a pulley one revolution of which couldindicate the passage of two feet of cable for instance, a revolutioncounter of any suitable type being mounted on the bracket and operatedby a projection mounted on the pulley 28 in the usual manner.

In operation, when it is decided to perforate the casing of an oil wellto increase the flow of oil into the casing, and the gas pressure in thewell is relatively high, a length of standpipe long enough to containthe gun is mounted on the casing head, which may be assumed to be of theusual kind provided with one or more lateral flow lines and closed atthe top by a plate, the casing head top plate being of course removed.

The gas pressure will now be retained in the standpipe, vertical tubularmembers, and the spherical member 5, 1, loss of pressure being preventedby the pressure packing 26 at the lower end of vertical member 6, andthrough bearing H by the pressure gland around shaft I3.

The pressure within the member 5, 1. will not cause any deformationthereof because of the spherical form of the member. thus avoiding anymisalignment of interior bearing Ill and bearing l2 and insuring thatshaft l3 will be free from binding in the bearings. Obviously, since thepressure is applied equally on all sides of the pulley 22, no unbalancedforce will be imposed thereon.

The motor I6 is then started by connecting the inlet pipe I! to apressure supply, the pressure of which may, however, be quite moderate,and opening a valve controlling the flow of the water.

Since the motor I 6 is very readily controlled by the manipulation ofthe valve and as water under pressure is generally available at drillinglocations, I prefer to use the hydraulic type motor shown in thedrawings. but any small motor may be incorporated in my device such asan electric motor.

The pulley 22 will be rotated by the motor in a direction to pull thecable 25, because of the frictional grip due to the turns of the cableabout the pulley, through the packing gland 26 and will lower the guninto the well casing to the predetermined depth. after which the chargesin the gun will be fired and the gun drawn again into the standpipe bywinding up the cable 25 on its reel.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, 1 do not desire to be limited to any of the details ofconstruction shown and described herein, except as defined in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A line operating device for use in gun casing perforating operationsand the like in wells under high pressure, the gun and the like beingsuspended on the line, including: n spherical housing formed of twoseparate parts secured together in pressure-tight relation: liltfilllufor mounting said housing on the cas ng h -d or a well, said means beingformed on one part of the spherical housing and being. ar anged toenable the line to run into the well from within the spherical housing;a first IJI'ESSlil'Q-Uffllt bearing mounted on the same part of thespherical housing as the mounting means for said housing; a secondpressure-tight bearing mounted on the other part of the sphericalhousing; pressure-tight means for guiding line through the wall of thepart of the housing on which the second pressure-tight bearing ismounted; a rotatable shaft mounted in said bearings and extendingoutwardly through one of the bearings; a grooved pulley within saidhousing so cured on said shaft for rotation therewith, the line beingrun through the pressure-tight guiding means and wound on said pulley aplurality of turns; and means arranged outside said housing for rotatingthe pulley shaft to pull line into the housing and lower it into thewell.

2. A line operating device for use in gun casing perforating operationsand the like in wells under high pressure, the gun and the like beingsuspended on the line, including: a spherical housing formed of twoseparate parts secured together in pressure-tight relation; means formounting said housing on the casing head of a well, said means beingformed on one part of the spherical housing and being arranged to enablethe line to run into the well from within the spherical housing; a firstpressure-tight hearing mounted on the same part of the spherical housingas the mounting means for said housing; a second pressure-tight bearingmounted on the other part of the spherical housing; pressuretight meansfor guiding line through the wall of the part of the housing on whichthe second pressure-tight bearing is mounted; a rotatable shaft mountedin said bearings and extending outwardly through one of the bearings; agrooved pulley within said housing secured on said shaft for rotationtherewith, the line being run through the pressure-tight guiding meansand wound on said pulley a plurality of turns; a bracket extendingoutwardly from the part of the housing through which the shaft extends;and a motor mounted on said bracket and effective to rotate said shaft.

3. A line operating device for use in gun cas ing perforating operationsand the like in wells under high pressure, the gun and the like beingsuspended on the line, including: a spherical housing formed ofsemi-spherical parts secured together in pressure-tight relation; atubular extension of one semispherical part arranged to mount thehousing on the casing head of a well and placing the interior of thehousing in communication with the interior of the well casing; a firstpressure-tight bearing mounted on the same semi-spherical part of thehousing as said tubular extension; a rotatable shaft extending throughsaid first pressure-tight bearing; a second pressure-tight bearingmounted on the other semispherical part of the housing and supportingthe end of said shaft; a second tubular extension projecting from thesame semispherical part as that on which the second pressure-tightbearing is mounted and arranged parallel to the first tubular extension;a grooved pulley within said housing secured on said shaft for rotationtherewith and with its rim in tangential relation to said tubularextensions, the line being run through said second tubular extension andwound on said grooved pulley a plurality of times and run the tubularmounting extension into the well; a pressure-tight packing gland in saidsecond tubular extension through which the line is pulled; a bracketextending outwardly from the semispherical part through which the shaftextends; a motor mounted on said bracket and efiective to rotate saidshaft; a second bracket projecting from the tubular mounting extension;and a line guiding grooved pulley mounted on said bracket, the linebeing run from a line reel around said line guiding pulley and directed6 thereby axially into said second tubular extension.

4. A line operating device for use in gun casing perforating operationsand the like in wells under high pressure, including a pressure-tighthousing having a portion adapted for sealed connection with the casinghead of a well, said housing having a line ingress and egress portremote from the casing connection portion, the port, when a line ofsuitable size is extended through it, forming a pressure seal about theline, and a line withdrawing device carried by the housing and having aline engaging and pulling portion sealed within the housing and locatedbetween the casing connection portion and the line ingress and egressport, said line withdrawing device including a drive member connected tothe line engaging and pulling portion and extending exteriorly of thehousing in pressure sealed relationship thereto.

KENNETH A. SUMMERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,359,763 Smith Nov. 23, 19201,630,826 Brooks May 31, 1927 1,817,201 Minor Aug. 4, 1931 2,218,955Johnson Oct. 22, 1940 2,226,060 Johnson, Jr Dec. 24, 1940

